


Family Portrait

by edgelordjonesthethird



Series: All The Ways I've Loved You [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bughead babies, F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Married Couple, Pregnant Betty Cooper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24003388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgelordjonesthethird/pseuds/edgelordjonesthethird
Summary: Betty and Jughead have to answer some tough and slightly awkward questions to answer when their oldest daughter comes home with a family tree project.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: All The Ways I've Loved You [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1457518
Comments: 11
Kudos: 75





	Family Portrait

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like some cute fluff. Here we go.

The first time Julia Jones leaves her father speechless is when she’s in the third grade. Betty and Jughead are in the kitchen; Jughead is feeding his second jar of baby food to Holden in his high chair, he clearly has the Jones appetite. Betty is stirring pasta sauce at the stove, she has one hand resting on her very pregnant belly. Julia drops her backpack on the floor and dramatically throws herself on the ground. Both parents turn to one another and share an amused look, the girl has a flair for the dramatics. She must have gotten that too many sleepovers at Cheryl and Toni’s.

“Everything okay, Lioness?” Jughead chuckles and scoops another spoonful of food into Holden’s mouth. “Hard day at school?”

“It was the worst day ever?” Julia sighs, throwing an arm over her eyes. “I’m never going back again!”

Betty frowns and walks over to Julia and somehow manages to get on her knees next to her, Jughead will surely have to pull her back up. “Did you have an asthma attack?” She asks stroking her hair.

Julia Jones was 2 months early, due on New Year's Eve and born on mischief night, which seemed to fit her personality more. Along with this early arrival came a slew of health issues; mostly upper respiratory and a string of surgeries. She is better than she was but still requires an inhaler from time to time.

Julia shakes her head. “No, I’m fine, there was no gym today!” She insists. “But…but we…had a class project, on gen-gene-family trees, and it was really hard because I had to explain why I only have one Grandmom and Pop-pop while everybody else has two, so I lied and said they died in a tragic explosion at a family reunion.”

Betty and Jughead glance at one another and frown. “I mean she isn’t wrong.” Jughead cracks.

Betty glares at him and raises both her hands. “Help me up, and then we are going to go sit in the living room!” She demands.

Jughead is too scared to go against her wishes, he takes both Betty’s hands and pulls her back to her feet. He moves Holden to the adjacent playpen before he picks up Julia and moves her to the living room with her. Betty is already sitting again with her very swollen ankles propped up on the coffee table. “Alright, what questions do you have, Julia?” She sighs. “Daddy and I will answer whatever we think we can, okay?”

Jughead sits to Betty and Julia nods and kicks her feet, banging against Jughead’s knees and he’s pretty sure her footprints will be permanently ingrained in his legs. “Ummm, so where is Mommy’s Dad?” She asks, innocently. “ Was there really a tragic explosion?”

Betty bites her lip, a tear runs down her cheeks. “ He is dead, baby, you were right, but there was no explosion, we will tell you more when you’re older, okay?” She kissed her head.

Julia wipes a tear from her mother’s cheek with her hand. “Okay.” She turns to her father. “So, is your Mommy dead too, that would make me sad if something happened to Mommy, I’m sorry she is.”

“It would make me sad if something happened to your Mommy too.” Jughead kisses his daughter’s head. “She’s not dead, she’s just not very nice, we thought it would be safer for you and your brother if she stayed away.” He explains softly.

There was a time they had considered letting Gladys back into their lives when Julia was born, they thought maybe she had changed with age. Things had gone just as they thought deep down, she wasn’t reliable, and was clearly still involved in shady business dealings. Jughead put his foot down when she took Julia out as a toddler and left her with a waitress when she got a call from one of the owners. Julia had to spend the night in the hospital that night because she had an asthma attack.

“So we don’t have any other family besides us and Grandmom and Pop-pop?” Julia asks quietly. “That’s really tiny…a lot of the people in my class have really big families, and all I have is you guys and _Holden_.”

There is no doubt that Julia loves her brother, but she was often annoyed by him and how he interrupted her sleep schedule for the first year of his life. Not to mention she was often agitated he wasn’t a sister

Betty runs a hand through the little girl’s raven curls. “Hey, hey, that’s not true!” She grins and wipes her cheeks. “You also have the new baby which may be a girl, and auntie Cheryl and Toni, and Uncle Archie and Auntie Ronnie and” –

“Uncle Kevin, Uncle Sweet Pea, and Uncle Fangs!” Jughead adds. “You see they might not be blood but, you make your own family.”

Julia nods. “Can I put them on my family tree, I need to make one on a poster for school?” She chirps. “Where will I put them?”

Betty perked up. “Yes, course we will help you figure it out, I love a good poster, I will help you!” She grins and kisses her forehead. “It’ll be fun, we can get the glitter out!”

Julia perked up, like her mother she had an aptitude when it came to school, or maybe it was just the thought of glitter. “Pink and purple!?” She inquired, eagerly.

“Pink and purple glitter!” Betty confirms. “Do you have any more questions, baby?”

Julia stroked her chin in deep thought for a moment. “Why do your Mommy and Daddy live together?” She questions with a furrowed brow. “Also why does Uncle Chuckie call you and Mommy ‘Little Sis’ and ‘Little Bro’”

Betty and Jughead look over and grimace at one another. “You know that’s a story for when you’re older.” Jughead snorts. “Or possibly never.”

“Now why don’t I go grab that glitter?” Betty laughs and gives Jughead an expectant look.


End file.
